A SATIN BLACKGROUND THANGKA OF PANJARNATA MAHAKALA


TIBET, 19TH CENTURY Distemper on satin-weave silk.
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61890 34 1/2 x 26 in. (87.5 x 66 cm)
|西藏 十九世紀 寶帳大黑天黑緞唐卡 This masterfully painted thangka on satin was produced as a single, complete composition, rather than as part of a set. It depicts Panjaranata Mahakala, a guardian of Buddhist wisdom. He is dramatically rendered at the painting's center with flawless brushstrokes and shading, wearing a crown of five grimacing skulls over his emblazoned weave of locks and above his intense eyes gazing at the blood-filled skullcup before his chest. Important deities and historic lamas associated with the religious practice of Panjaranata Mahakala surround him. Overseeing the painting's apex is the Primordial Buddha, Vajradhara, flanked by two mahasiddhas. To their left and right are the Five Founding Patriarchs of the Sakya order of Tibetan Buddhism:  Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092–1158), Sonnam Tsemo (1142-1182), Dragpa Gyaltsen (1147-1216), Sakya Pandita (1181-1251) and Chogyal Pagpa (1235-1280). To the left of central figure is Brahmanrupa Mahakala accompanied by four small female figures, and below him Shri Devi Magzor Gyalmo riding a mule. To the right of the central figure is Ekajati holding a vase, and below her Shri Devi Dudsolma riding a donkey. Directly below the central figure, a particularly striking Brahman figure lords over the bottom third of the painting. He is joined by the Five Activity Protectors, who trample on ignorant corpses, consuming their organs. At the very bottom, Panjaranata Mahakala is offered skullcups and weapons from a central altar, surrounded by inhabitants of the charnal grounds. Compare another finely painted blackground thangka on silk sold at Sotheby's, New York, 21 September, 1995, lot 89. An earlier thangka of Panjaranata Mahakala with a similar composition, in the Zimmerman Family Collection, is published in Pal, Art of the Himalayas, Newark, 1991, p.185. The present thangka's quality also compares favorably to a stylistically related thangka of Shadbhuja Mahakala sold at Sotheby's, 17 March 2015, lot 1012. Provenance Private New England Collection